TRU Venture Marketing

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the Chief Marketing Officer for a Quantum Computing start-up.

For what projects/services did your company hire TRU Venture Marketing, and what were your goals?

TRU Venture Marketing (TRU) was presented with what has to be among the most challenging of marketing assignments -- with a relatively limited budget, how does one engage a target audience today for a need they see but don't fully understand, likely solved with a complex offering that in many ways doesn't yet exist, on a technology platform that is still emerging, requiring a staff skill base in relatively scarce supply.

Our going-in hypothesis was that we should focus on helping target prospects better understand the strategic implications for their business from quantum computing and give them processes and tools they can use now to help gain first-mover advantages while reducing likely costs and risk.

As such, relating to work by TRU, we needed to solve for an integrated marketing campaign that would leverage paid and organic search along with LinkedIn advertising for top-of-funnel and retargeting efforts, combined with creating a series of educational white papers and free consulting services as the call-to-action on targeted landing pages.

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

In choosing a marketing partner, we wanted to solve for five key competencies in a firm:

1. the ability to think strategically and execute from both a brand and a direct response perspective on and off our website.
2. a strong testing mindset since we weren't likely to get it right the first time, and our audience and competitor set would likely evolve/mature over time.
3. the ability to work on a very technical product with a very limited budget.
4. the ability to work with the evolving and competing priorities inherent in working with a start-up company figuring out its way forward. 5. The ability to work within a brand identity and website design largely out of their control. Based on personal experience and feedback from others, TRU was selected.

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and marking tools used.

The scope of work included:

1. Organic and Paid search, as well as LinkedIn campaigns, including static and dynamic ads and form integration.
2. Marketing CRM (HubSpot) and advertising analytics integration.
3. Landing page development and testing.

How many resources from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

The resources varied over time as the needs evolved, but in general it included the account, creative and analytics leads.

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

Measurable results are confidential, but I can say that qualitatively that TRU did an excellent job within the constraints they were given, were a pleasure to work with, contributed significantly to the thinking, and showed great flexibility and responsiveness. If I could go back in time, I would make the same decision to hire them.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Very effective. Meetings were set based on activity and business needs, agendas were clear and prioritized, and the discussions were positive and productive. Out-of-meeting communication was also efficient and effective, primarily via Slack or phone.

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

Beyond the overall quality of work, they managed through some significant challenges, not of their own making, with an excellent partnering attitude. I always look forward to my meetings with them. It is a true pleasure to work with such an accessible, proactive, and result-oriented firm.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

While there are differences in expectations one should have and plan for when working with a smaller agency, such as TRU, vs. a larger agency, the advantages for us in this situation outweighed any potential disadvantages. Within those expectations, they were outstanding.

Please describe your company and your position there.

Partner at a private real estate mortgage pool fund with a primary objective to provide stabilized long-term returns for investors by lending on real estate assets held by a Fund affiliated company.

For what projects/services did your company hire TRU Venture Marketing?

We hired TRU Venture Marketing to build out and upgrade the brand and messaging across all mediums.

How did you select this vendor?

We found TRU Venture after an extensive search and interviews with multiple marketing firms. It was apparent from our first meeting with Matt that his firm was the only choice that made sense for us. They took the time to understand our business and what makes us "tick". With added alignment in the Lean Startup methodology and some amazing referrals, we knew that TRU was the right marketing partner for us!

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

We began our engagement with in depth discovery meetings where Matt and the team guided us through processes to generate a road map for our marketing strategies. With a multi-phase plan developed we continue to build out our brand including website, investor messaging and all collateral materials

What was the team composition?

The TRU marketing team feels like an in house team! We wrok directly with all members.

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

We are continually measuring the outcomes using metrics developed with the team. Right now all projects are in the early phases. We have worked with TRU on other projects in the past where we measure sucess of lead generation and saw a 40% increase in our lead generation

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Very effective. We have set up a communications channel utilizing Teams and google drive. We also have a standing bi monthly meeting with Matt.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Their ongoing commitment to us and our growth. Our engagement is a true partnership grounded in adherence to excellence.

Is there any area for improvement or anything that could have been done differently?

Right now we are looking to create a more seemless communication channel.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the Program Manager for Entrepreneurial Development at UNR. Our programs provide entrepreneurship programs for the university and Nevada startup communities.

For what projects/services did your company hire TRU Venture Marketing?

We recently hired TRU to assist us with the InNEVator marketing and branding process including website updates, digital and physical marketing, email campaigns, lead generation, qualification, and program applicant acquisition and assistance.

How did you select this vendor?

We have worked with Tru over the last several years and have always found them to be thorough, professional, and excellent at what they do.

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

TRU developed a detailed event promotion plan that included web and online asset creation and updates. They supported the program applicant acquisition strategy by providing hands-on assistance with the application process, responding to customer questions, and interfacing directly with candidates throughout the state. They specifically provided web page updates, managed our F6s profile, developed printed media materials for marketing, and conducted all program outreach efforts.

What was the team composition?

I worked with Matt and Brian at TRU.

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

We have seen an increase in program participants from southern Nevada and out of state, which is largely, if not entirely, thanks to Tru's marketing efforts.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

We had the opportunity to meet regularly to communicate our expectations for the initiative, it was always clearly documented in a follow-up email sent by Tru, which kept us on track for timely program delivery.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

At certain points in our project planning process, we had to make last-minute pivots, Tru was fast and flexible and able to deliver high-quality work despite the last-minute change in direction. I was very impressed and grateful for their flexibility.

Is there any area for improvement or anything that could have been done differently?

No - TRU's work was well executed.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the co-founder of EvaBot which helps companies to automate their corporate gifting using AI & ML.

For what projects/services did your company hire TRU Venture Marketing, and what were your goals?

We wanted to launch our first customer acquisition marketing campaign on facebook when we got connected with TRU Venture Marketing. Our goals were to test if Facebook could be effective channel for us and get us new customers at scale within our CAC range. We were an early stage start up and this was our first attempt to scale customer acquisition and so a very critical test for us.

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

We had been in touch with Matt for a different marketing activity earlier. When we were exploring partners to work with for the FB campaigns, Matt & the TRU Venture Marketing were the most nimble, flexible, and complete solution we found. Matt thought about the campaigns just like a founder himself and was open to a very performance oriented payment structure as well. This, along with the fact that they could be a one stop shop for our entire performance marketing requirements was the primary deciding factor.

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and marking tools used.

First they worked with us to understand our business, which type of customers were we looking for & what made them valuable. Next they understood the complete user journey from sign up to becoming a paying customer. This was before we had launched subscriptions so it was doubly challenging. After that we iterated with them on the messaging, landing pages and finalized the core vertical to target - Real Estate. Marketing tools included CleverTap for analytics, Unbounce for landing pages, FB Ads Manager and a few other tools.

We have worked with them for more than 3 years, so there are a LOT of campaigns we have worked with them. Across this time, following were some of the key initiatives we worked on:

• Advanced Look-Alike modeling.
• Many FB campaign optimization approaches from CPL, CPA to ROAS based campaigns.
• Video Ads, starting with just stock footage to full custom shot video.
• Landing page designs and approaches.
• 2 full website redesigns
• Brand refresh with logo redesign as well.

How many resources from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

Pretty much the entire team. Matt managed the campaign set ups and strategy while Sergio worked on the creative assets. Later Brian took over the day to day campaign management.

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

The FB campaigns were a game changer for us. It helped us rapidly grow in the Real Estate space and resulted in over 20K leads, 5K sign ups and more than 2.5K paying customers. And it helped us build a lasting brand in the real estate space, where even after stopping our FB ad campaigns more than 12 months ago, we still get loads of organic sign ups.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

It was highly effective. We had daily and weekly check ins and we met in person once a month for a half day review of the campaigns and to brainstorm ideas.

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

The fact that it never felt like a client-agency relationship. Working with the TRU Venture Marketing team felt like working with our own marketing team. They take ownership, are super fast, flexible and willing to go the extra mile to get the results and help us. And they think like a founder themselves.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

Sometimes bandwidth limitations were there. Though that can happen at any boutique agency during the growth phase. The only other recommendation I have is to add Google Search performance marketing capabilities to their roster.

Please describe your company and your position there.

SaaS based art company that sells software solution in the art market.

For what projects/services did your company hire TRU Venture Marketing, and what were your goals?

We were getting started on our marketing efforts and needed ads to acquire leads for the software solution and to drive awareness of the product. Tru Venture Marketing was hired to augment out initial editorial, blog content as well as drive traffic and awareness of our lunch and learn and education content.

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

We searched online for a digital marketing agency in our area and asked around our network. After interviewing a few, we chose them based on past expertise, cost estimates, and process of experimentation.

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and marking tools used.

First, we went through a discovery phase to understand our goals. Then they reviewed our analytics and tracking to ensure the ads would be tracked in the funnel. The focus was to drive brand awareness and leads. They tested out different versions of copy, images to our audience and reported on learnings. Essentially an extended marketing team.

How many resources from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

Worked with 4-5 individuals. There was an account manager, creative designer, analytics & operations person, and reporting individual, and ceo.

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

Contributed to Marketing campaign with awareness ads that resulted in 95 registrants and 50 qualified leads attending from lunch and learn.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

We had in-person meeting once a week to go over campaigns and performance and communicated over Slack and email for ad creative direction. Whenever there were questions the response they responded quickly.

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

They were willing to adapt and be all-in to support the marketing team. From feedback on an extensive website design to performance ads, they provided a lot of support.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

I would of appreciated the recaps to be sent via email regularly but other than that it was a great experience.

Please describe your company and your position there.

Truly Financial is an all-in-one business banking the provides cards, payments and banking with a single bank account. With this account, employees in the US and other countries can manage spending with corporate Visa cards, pay suppliers local and internationally, and receive deposits in their bank account. As the Chief Business Officer I am responsible for marketing, sales, business development and partnerships.

For what projects/services did your company hire TRU Venture Marketing?

We hired TRU to drive new leads for our banking service and to warm up and nurture our waiting list to maximize account opening.

How did you select this vendor?

We met with several marketing and automation agencies and experts. With TRU we found a vendor who understands both lead generation as well as lead nurturing. Hubspot runs a big part of what we do and their expertise with the Hubspot platform was a big advantage.

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

TRU was responsible for understanding the product messaging, building lead gen ads for Facebook, A/B testing ad performance for lead cost as well as determining MQL metrics.

They also worked on the landing pages and optimizing the pages for conversion within the same ad campaign. In addition to adding to the top of the funnel they set up our marketing automation workflows and managed the warming up and conversion of signups from our waiting list being converted to customers.

What was the team composition?

TRU's CEO led the strategy and they had team members for messaging, creatives, ad campaign management and marketing automation.

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

We saw great results from waitlist nurture - measured by email engagement and conversion, as well as cost of acquisition on our new ad campaigns. Over time the quality of new leads kept improving as well, measured by profile of companies who were signing up.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Weekly meetings were on the calendar which happened regularly. They were also very accommodating when we needed to reschedule on occasion. We kept Slack channels open for quick communication and their team was always on point when they had specific questions.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They were customer-focused — understanding our key priorities and structuring weekly sprints to achieve our goals. Secondly, they are good at end to end campaign management. Thirdly, impressed by how data driven they are with respect to ad campaigns, lead scoring, automation etc.

Is there any area for improvement or anything that could have been done differently?

We were extremely happy with the process and the outcomes. No additional suggestions.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of a startup fintech company.

What challenge were you trying to address with TRU Venture Marketing?

We needed help with branding and marketing for our business. We wanted to get the correct message from our company out there.

What was the scope of their involvement?

TRU Venture Marketing did website design and implementation, UI/UX work, and sat through designing the proper messaging and product analysis for our market.

What is the team composition?

I worked with everyone on their team; I started with Matt (Owner), Brian (Digital Marketing Specialist), Jonathan (Head of Digital Marketing, and Sarah (Digital Advertising Associate).

How did you come to work with TRU Venture Marketing?

I heard about them through our startup accelerator. We chose them because they were true to their word, and they were there for us when we had no customers nor products — their team was willing to help us initially, which was a big deal for us, so we showed loyalty.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from September–October 2021.

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

The quality of their product is excellent, and they were able to get our branding message out there quickly and within budget. Also, they had the proper messaging and bandwidth and could step into the areas where we didn’t have all the tools for what we were looking for. Also, they gave me a great deal price-wise to help me get off the ground.

How did TRU Venture Marketing perform from a project management standpoint?

Communication was great; they set up a Slack channel from the beginning, and we also had Zoom meetings to ensure that everyone was on the same page throughout the project. In terms of deadlines, they exceeded our expectations — they said it’d take them three months to finish, and it only took them around three weeks!

In today’s market, everyone’s trying to sell you something, but that’s the one thing they didn’t try to do; they were honestly offering to try to help, and that’s why they got our business. Their team also did an excellent job balancing being a small company and giving a high-grade product.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their communication was outstanding; everyone communicated throughout their company chain.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They were a smaller company, and I know they’ll continue to grow and create a larger bandwidth to have more tools at their disposal. Also, extending to a crew of 15–20 members will help them to be able to hit the ballpark.

Any advice for potential customers?

Talk to them and do a quick one-on-one so they can learn more about your business; they know their work, and they can streamline your wants and needs if you’re clear with communication.